Pattadese for two and a half days.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
17,489
Okay, it's been a whole weekend with my new Pattadese from Fausto, and for the time it was my only pocket knife. I did the unthinkable, and left the peanut out of my pocket. For all of Saturday and Sunday, I used the friction folder for all cutting, and so far, it has beguiled me. Cutting some twine, opening mail, opening some plastic wrapped food packages on Sunday when Karen and I were rambliing around the woods with Pearl THe Wonder Corgi, slicing a quick snack of some left over roast chicken in the fridge. The blade, which is very wide for such a small knife, seems espcially good on meats like pepperoni and hard sausage, and fibrous stuff like jute and manilla twine. The wide blade also gives me an additional advantage that I had worried about. I am very used to having a second small pen blade for close control. But the wide pattadese blade lets me choke up with thumb and index finger so I can use just the fine point for sliding down the side of a blister package under good control.

I think these pattadese are like a drug, good from the get go, and more addictive as you use them more. Must be why they have lasted as long as they have. They really work. I'll make running reports and get some more pics up now and then.

Carl.

edit to add; Whoa, I think I finally found the macro icon button my camera. I think I may be able to take better pics now, maybe. One more small step for a tecno-phobic old fart!
 
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Thanks for posting, Carl. You're making it difficult to resist getting one of my own! :D
 
Thanks for sharing your first impressions of that little beauty! I have loved the looks of these style of knives since first seeing them here and there in this forum. At some point this year it will be my mission to find one of these gems!
 
jackknife said:
I did the unthinkable, and left the peanut out of my pocket.
Click to expand...
:eek: :D

Thanks for the interim report and pic Carl. That's a great-looking knife, and a really useful-looking one. I do like a wide blade. Look forward to hearing more :thumbup:

Jack
 
sitflyer said:
Thanks for sharing your first impressions of that little beauty! I have loved the looks of these style of knives since first seeing them here and there in this forum. At some point this year it will be my mission to find one of these gems!
Click to expand...

You and me both:thumbup: If I find something similar I'll let you guys know!! Ever since I have seen these I've been craving one:eek:
 
Carl,
you know, having played a part in causing the unthinkable feels quite good ;)
As you know, I'm happy and proud to contribute to spreading "my" knives overseas, after having received "your" knives into my home :)
Enjoy the knife, and every time you use it for slicing sausage or cutting cheese, you might feel the moltitude of Sardinian shepherds who have used the same knife (well, mostly in a larger version) to do the same thing in their homes, or in the fields, when feeding their herd :rolleyes:

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
Carl,
you know, having played a part in causing the unthinkable feels quite good ;)
As you know, I'm happy and proud to contribute to spreading "my" knives overseas, after having received "your" knives into my home :)
Enjoy the knife, and every time you use it for slicing sausage or cutting cheese, you might feel the moltitude of Sardinian shepherds who have used the same knife (well, mostly in a larger version) to do the same thing in their homes, or in the fields, when feeding their herd :rolleyes:

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

As I have gotten 'older', I seem to have got an increased appreciation of the old history and heritage of stuff. Using the Pattadese is like a history lesson in itself. Just like an Opinel, a Taramundi from Spain, an old German Herter sodbuster, or even a well used barlow, they are a reminder of why things have longevity. How many years has the puuko been used in Finland?

Yes, there are newer and more modern stuff that will work. But in the end, does it work any better? Is a top of a box that's cut open any less cut because the knife used does not have the latest wonder steel of the month? KNives are just like guns, and a lot of other things. I learned a valuable lesson a long time ago when my old co-worker and friend Andy invited me down to the old family farm for a hunt. I was young and had the hot lick gear. Andy had an old single barrel break open shotgun, and a Buck 303 pocket knife. He got his deer first just after dawn, and did a surgeons job field dressing it with his edc pocket knife.

The shepherds in the arid hills of Northern Spain, field or farm workers in France, and shepherds in the hills of Sardinia just want a simple reliable knife to cut with. Although separated by many miles, and different geographic terrain, their solution is amazingly similar. The penny knife has a very long history of centuries, and it has worked for lots of people in lots of countries, for a similar task. They just need to cut something.

Sometimes going back to basics is not just fun, it's a lesson in the old saying that less is more. You can load up a Glock and blast away, or you can load up a cap and ball 1860 Colt pattern revolver and blast away. The explosion of dirty white powder smoke and orange flash makes me appreciate the old way of getting it done. There ain't no fast reload with cap and ball, you better make that six shots count. The old style knives are like that. It's a little micro trip back in time to use something that has not really changed in a time period measured in centuries. Maybe it's the over active imagination I have, but I like being connected to the past. And the Pattadese has a past that goes back quite a ways. I just recently watched a youtube episode of the Anthony Bourdain show when he was in Sardinia, that showed the making of the knives in Pattada, and it was really cool. One day I may have to get one of the big ones, just for yuks. All those Sardinian shepherds and bandits couldn't have all been wrong!:D

Carl.
 
Carl, your new knife is truly special, because one, it came from a terrific member here, and two, it's just darn good looking! I'm with the others here that hope to find something like it sometime this year.

And I'm really liking the looks of those Taramundi too...will it ever end?!? :D
 
zippofan said:
...will it ever end?!? :D
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Of course not. We knife nuts are cursed like the Flying Dutchman; doomed to an eternity of searching for the 'one' knife. Like the knight in that Edgar Allen Poe poem "Eldorado."

Over the mountains of the moon, down the valley of the shadow, ride boldly ride, if you seek the one knife!

Okay, okay, so I paraphrased it a bit. But the thought is the same.
 
jackknife said:
Of course not. We knife nuts are cursed like the Flying Dutchman; doomed to an eternity of searching for the 'one' knife. Like the knight in that Edgar Allen Poe poem "Eldorado."
Click to expand...

Or (particularly for the Stockman collectors) like the Ghostriders in the Sky! :D

Some great posts Carl, a pleasure to read and ponder :thumbup:

Jack
 
Interesting to hear your thoughts on this old pattern Carl.

I've been admiring this style's (and its close kins) blades shape for some time. Its most appealing.

Enjoy taking a slice of Sardinia ;)
 
Nice pics Carl:thumbup:
Just curious Carl, how do you carry the knife?
Do you use the sheath or just secure it vertical with a bandana?
I found out that my Opi 8 likes to work it's way horizontal in the pocket which I find rather annoying and uncomfortable.
It helps a bit carrying pivot down, but during the course of the day with moving around it slips horizontal most of the time.
Sometimes I use a rough leather slip sheath that came with another knife.
 
spydutch said:
Nice pics Carl:thumbup:
Just curious Carl, how do you carry the knife?
Do you use the sheath or just secure it vertical with a bandana?
I found out that my Opi 8 likes to work it's way horizontal in the pocket which I find rather annoying and uncomfortable.
It helps a bit carrying pivot down, but during the course of the day with moving around it slips horizontal most of the time.
Sometimes I use a rough leather slip sheath that came with another knife.
Click to expand...

I carry it in my right hand pocket. I do keep a wadded up bandana in the pocket, and it keeps it stable. Like an Opinel, this knife is so light because of the simple construction, it doesn't move any if there's even light resistance like a bandana against it. It's like carrying a number 6 Opinel.

Carl.
 
Is there a backspring on that knife, or is it only friction?
I ask because i stumbled onto this video, where it looks like they add a backspring to it.
[video=youtube;MqKptGBEM4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqKptGBEM4w[/video]
 
aarya said:
Is there a backspring on that knife, or is it only friction?
I ask because i stumbled onto this video, where it looks like they add a backspring to it.
Click to expand...

No, it's a pure friction folder, which at this point is what I have come to prefer. What you think is a back spring, is actually a spacer in the horn handle halves. Picture an Opinel without the locking ring. Works the same way.

Carl.
 
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